Former Auditor General Daniel Domelevo has described as unfortunate comments by Council of State member Sam Okudzeto for saying there is nothing wrong with stashing money at home.

The former president of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has been defending former Sanitation Minister Cecilia Abena Dapaah following queries raised about the millions found in her home.

In an interview with Accra-based TV3, he said she is not obligated to justify the source of funds discovered in her residence.

Mr Okudzeto admonished certain Ghanaians for what he perceives as dishonesty in their condemnation of Dapaah, who faced scrutiny over the substantial cash found in her home.

The private legal practitioner quizzed, “If you come and you find money with me, do I owe you any duty to explain to you to whose money when nobody has complained that I have stolen his money?

“You Ghanaians are not honest people, the number of people, all these huge buildings that they are building, who has asked them where they got the money from, nobody does.

"So you just pick on one individual and you want to make it as if she was just an extraordinary rogue who has stolen money when you don’t even have any evidence that she has stolen money.”

But speaking to Raymond Acquah on Joy News' Upfront on Wednesday, the former Auditor General insists keeping that amount of money at home is questionable.

"I find it unfortunate...my position will not be based on law, but at least being a public figure and a leader in government talking about ensuring that we all use the financial sector, keeping that amount of money in the house may not be legally wrong, but I think it is questionable," he said.

Background

Last week, the Center for Democratic Development, Ghana (CDD-Ghana) registered its dismay over the latest development in Cecilia Dapaah’s case. 

This was after the Office of the Attorney-General had, in a letter addressed to the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), advised it not to investigate suspected money laundering in connection with certain monies found at the private residences of Mrs Cecilia Dapaah.

But in a statement, the Center said it was hard to believe that, after over eight months of investigation following the alleged theft of $1 million and €300,000 cash from the home of Mrs Dapaah, the subsequent discovery of another $590,000 and GH¢2,730,000 in cash by the OSP in Madam Dapaah’s properties, not to mention the huge balances held in investment and bank accounts, Ghanaians could not get a simple satisfactory answer from any public agency as to the source of these monies.  

The statement said the fact that these monies, at least in the aggregate, apparently exceed the former Minister’s known or verifiable income should raise legitimate questions or reasonable suspicion or doubt as to their source. 

It said continuing to investigate this matter to establish the source of the monies was, therefore, eminently justifiable under the circumstances.